In a perfect world
by Joyce3
Summary: Set after season two. Buffy comes home to fight a new big threat...BX...After what seems like ages chapter four is up.
1. Coming home

Title: In a perfect world 

Author: Joyce

Rating: G

Timeline: Beginning of season three. Buffy isn't back from her departure yet. Angel never returned, at least not to Sunnydale. He got out  of hell and went to LA after that, realising that he and Buffy would never work out. He did call Giles however to let him know he was alive, but he didn't tell Giles that Buffy had to kill him. He also told Giles that he had to tell Buffy when she was ready. So it's up to Giles to determine when he thinks she's ready. Cordelia and Xander are still together, as are Willow and Oz. Spike got staked by Drusilla after he took her out of Sunnydale, and she went to Mexico.

Why did she go to Mexico ? I don't know, I think she could have fun there. 

Chapter one.

Home sweet home

The house of Willow Rosenberg.

(10.05 PM)

Willow relaxed into Oz's arms, enjoying the movie she was watching. Next to her Cordelia was sitting in a position similar to hers, only the arms wrapped around her belonged to Xander. They had rented 'Dirty dancing', much to the dislike of the guys. Oz was looking more bored than usual and Xander had trouble keeping his eyes open. School has started a couple of weeks before and still there was no sign of Buffy. The gang was getting tired, having to go to school in the day and slaying vampires in the evening. Or rather, they were trying to slay vampires. They had decided that they needed a night of fun. Oz looked to his right, to see Xander with his eyes closed, mouth a bit open.

"Xander, do you also wish we were slaying right now?"

The dark haired boy woke up with a start. "What ? I wasn't sleeping. I wasn't."

Oz nodded, replying somewhat sarcastically, "Sure."

Xander got of Willow's couch, telling them that he was going to the kitchen to get some drinks. The girls barely heard him and Oz only raised his thumb to indicate that he was fine with that. Wondering how long a movie about dancing could last he walked into Willow's kitchen. He would make some popcorn with the drinks; it would give him an excuse to stay away somewhat longer. After he got some Cokes, he put the popcorn in the microwave and waited for the magic 'plop' sounds. He smiled; popcorn always reminded him of Buffy. She could eat buckets of it and still want more. It hurt to think about her, because if brought back all these questions he couldn't stop himself from thinking almost all of the time. Where was she? Was she alive? Did she think about them too? 

The sound of the microwave beeping released him from his thoughts, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling the way he did. On the outside he was doing ok, on the inside he missed her like crazy.

LA, the hotel room of Buffy Summers.

(10.05 PM)

Buffy was watching 'Dirty dancing' on cable, while eating some popcorn. She had been in LA for more than three months now, working as a waitress by day, and sitting in her room by night. Her first weeks had been tough; she couldn't get the image of Angel out of her head. After a while she started living somewhat again. She wasn't healed, not by a long shot, but she stopped having dreams about Angel almost a month ago. Instead, visions of her mom and friends started haunting her. She would walk into the restaurant she worked in and see Willow, but it was just a girl with red hair. Every woman who had curls turned into her mom. Short guys were Oz, brunette girls, Cordelia, older men with glasses, Giles. She would see them everywhere. But she would never see Xander, and she felt guilty about that. She missed them all so much, and she wanted to go home. But she was afraid that her mom wouldn't let her back into her life again, that her friends hated her for leaving them. If she closed her eyes she could see them, Willow, Oz, Cordelia, Xander, Giles, her mom... but there faces where always a bit blurry, except for Xander's. She could always see him perfectly clear, smiling at her, motioning her to come home. She wondered about that, but she also felt less guilty for not seeing him in other people. It didn't mean that she had forgotten about him, 'cause in her mind he was still there. Clear as ever.

As the credits of 'Dirty Dancing'rolled over her screen, she turned down the lights and fell asleep...

_She was in Sunnydale again and she walked down the streets she knew so well, heading for her home. As she entered her house she yelled for her mom. No answer. She went up the stairs and searched for her there... no one. Panicking she went to her school, entered the library. No one was there either. She yelled for Giles, Willow, Xander. No one answered. _

_Suddenly she found herself in a graveyard. Before her, six fresh graves appeared. Standing before the first one she read the inscription on the stone. _

_                                                                            "Daniel Osborne._

_                                                                                     "Oz"_

_                                                                             May he rest in peace."_

_She cried out in pain but no sound was heard. The next tombstone was Cordelia's, followed by Giles'. By then she was crying. Her crying became hysterical when she reached the next one, which read Willow. She stayed by that grave for a while, not believing that she was standing in front of the grave of her best friend. After a while she got up and walked to the next one. It was Xander's.  She just stood there, numb, mourning for her friends, for Xander, while being afraid for the last stone. Because there was only one person she cared about left. When she got there she saw that it read Joyce Summers..._

Buffy woke up with a scream. She hadn't had dreams about her loved ones before, and she instinctively knew that this was a sign. That they were in trouble. A big threat was coming there way. She got out of bed and packed her bag. Whether they wanted her or not, she was going home to protect them from anything wanting to hurt them.

Buffy's house

(9.05 PM)

Joyce was sitting in her living room, surrounded by people, but still feeling alone. Willow, Xander, Oz, Cordelia and Giles had dropped by. They would often do that before they would go on patrol. Just to check on her. She appreciated it, but it didn't make it hurt any less. They all knew that, but they still tried. They had to.

Xander was in the kitchen, again, making a snack for them all. He always loved to eat before going on patrol, claiming that it got him fired up.

There was a knock on the door and Joyce stood to open it, freezing when she saw Buffy in front of her. After staring at each other for a long time the two just hugged, thankful to hold each other again. Meanwhile the others stood by and watched; Giles relieved to see her again, her friends amazed at her sudden reapearance.

The scene was interrupted by Xander, walking in the living room. A huge plate of food with him.

"Ladies, gentlemen, I've got it all. I've got twinkies, which you all can't have..."

He stopped dead in his tracks when he recognized the person who was slowly letting go of her mother.

"Buffy..."

She looked at him, noting that he had changed somewhat. He looked older, somehow more adult. And in that instant she knew why she never saw anybody who reminded her of Xander. There simply wasn't anyone. Only Xander could remind her of Xander. Not really getting what that meant, she just stared back at him.

"Xander..."

It was all she could say. Cordelia, who was getting nervous by the way Buffy and her boyfriend were looking at each other, interrupted.

"Eh, Buffy, not that I mind that you are back, 'cause I really do... I mean, who knew that patrolling could cause so many nails to break and not to mention the clothes I..."

Seeing everybody stare at her she stopped talking. Giles took over.

"I think what she means is this: Why are you back ?'"

Chapter 2.

Facing the music 

Buffy's house (9.20 PM)

Buffy felt the stares of all the people she loved on her and didn't really know what to say. 

"I...ehhh...well...I....I kinda had a dream."

Xander nodded. "The 'I kinda had a dream' speech..."

Buffy gave him a look, and he backed off, sensing that she needed to speak without his usual interruptions.

"It was pretty scary, and I think it was one of my "watch out, there's trouble coming your way" dreams."

Giles took a step forward. "What did you dream about Buffy ? Did you see any demons ?"

She shook her head. "I saw your graves..."

The room fell silent., not knowing what to say or how to react. After a long silence, the group looked at Xander. He just raised his hands up in defense.

"Sorry, no joke here; I'm just as freaked out as you all are by the news that Buffy saw our graves in her dreams. I mean, call me crazy here, but that doesn't sound to good."

Buffy gave him a smile, trying to be as comforting as she could. "You know I would never let anything happen to you guys, right ?"

He nodded. "Not on purpose, but that doesn't mean bad things can't happen... Besides, you were ferfectly fine letting things happen to us the last three months..."

Xander stopped talking, seeing the hurt look on her face and the warning look on the face of Willow. He went on anyway, because he needed some of the frustration of the past few months out of his system.

"I don't want to hurt you Buff, really I don't. But where the hell have you been? Why didn't you at least call? Do you know how worried we all were about you? Do you know what you did to you mom? Why did you do that to us?"

His last question was almost a whisper, and it almost broke Buffy's heart hearing the pain in his voice, seeing the pain in all of their faces.

"I...I can't talk about this now, please Xand, could we go back to why I came back?"

Before Xander could answer Giles nodded. "We don't have to talk about this now, if you're not ready, but it will have to be discussed some time."

She smiled at him thankfully. He went on. "Do you think you saw a prophecy in your dream ?"

"No, I think it was some kind of warning. It was almost like the dream was trying to tell me that something big was coming, something that could kill us all. I had to come after that. I couldn't leave you guys here knowing that you might die. I couldn't."

Joyce interrupted. "Do you guys mind if we rap it up for know? I know this is important but you can all discuss this again in the morning, and I really need to speak with my daughter."

The group just got up to get their coats. Willow looked at her boyfriend. "What do you think, should we go to Restfield Cemetery tonight ?"

"Yeah, we haven't done that one in four days. Xand, Cor, you guys ok with that?"

Cordelia sighed. "Fine by me, but I don't see why we have to go patrolling. Hello... Our superhero is back!"

Buffy stepped in. "She's right, you guys shouldn't go patrolling. It's dangerous."

Xander just smiled. "We've been patrolling for three months now Buff, we should do fine."

He closed the door behind him and left Buffy with her mom. "Tell me he was joking ! Have they really been patroling while I was gone ?"

"Yes Buffy, they have."

"I really screwed up, didn't I?"

"I'd say you have."

"Could I just go to my room mom ? I know you want to talk, but  I'm tired."

"Just a second, maybe you can explain to me first why you wouldn't come back until you thought we were in trouble. Why did you have to see my grave in your dream before you could decide that you needed to come home?"

Buffy understood the underlying question here. "I did miss you mom, every day. I was just so hurt and so afraid that you would hate me. I was afraid to come back..."

"You were afraid of your own mom.... What did you think I would do?"

"I don't know mom, maybe I was afraid that you wouldn't let me back into your life. I mean, that's pretty much what you said last time we talked."

Joyce sat down on the couch, not really believing what she was hearing. "I was upset that day, I mean...finding out your secret wasn't easy. I said things I didn't mean, how could you think they were true?"

Buffy sat down next to her. "I don't know, I never saw you so angry...and it was just easier pretending that you didn't want me home. That you wanted me gone; otherwise I would have gone crazy these last months."

"Are you staying this time?"

"Yes, I'm staying."

The two held each other on the couch for a long time. Finally Joyce brushed some hair out of her daughter's face. "This doesn't mean everything is forgiven just yet. It will take time to get the trust back again. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah, I can."

"Good, now go to bed."

Buffy started to walk up the stairs but was stopped by her mother saying her name.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

The sweet moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. After opening it, Cordelia rushed in, crying. "Buffy! It's Xander...He's.."

"What is it?"

"We were attacked by a vampire and the thing got Xander and we don't know if we got there in time. He looks so pale and his pulse is so weak...I don't know if he's going to..."

She stopted talking, not able to finish her sentence. Buffy tried to keep calm, but her heart was beating too fast and she was scared to dead. "Cordy, do you think he drank the blood of the vampire too?"

"No, but I think we may have gotten there to late. He lost so many blood..."

"Where is he now?"

"Oz drove him to the hospital. I came to you 'cause I thought you might want to be there too."

Buffy looked at her mom. Joyce nodded. "Go, he needs you. Call me if you know anything."

"I will."

They were gone.

Sunnydale hospital, ( 10.45 PM)

Buffy was pacing in the waiting room. They had gotten there as fast as they could. When they arrived they were told that he needed blood, fast. Buffy's and Willow's were the only ones that matched his blood so they both offered to give him some of theirs. They had done that a half an hour ago and know they were waiting to hear from the doctor. Willow was sitting in a chair, her eyes puffy from crying and still a little dizzy from the loss of blood. It was worth it though, everything would we worth it just as long as Xander was going to be ok. Oz stood behing her, massaging her neck,offering her all the support he could give her. Giles and Cordelia had gone to get something to eat, although nobody was hungry. They just needed something to do. Buffy got scared when she saw the doctor entering the waiting room. Afraid to hear his news.

"He's going to be oke. It was a close call and he's still weak, but he'll live."

Buffy wanted to hugh the doctor; instead she just smiled the biggest smile. Meanwhile Willow was just holding Oz, thankful that her best friend was going to live.

"Can we see him?"

The doctor nodded at the redhead. "Yes, but two at a time please."

"Buff, you wanna come with me?"

"Yeah."

When they entered the room they saw Xander trying to sit up. Buffy rushed to him. "You can't do that, not yet. You need to rest."

He shook his head alomost violently. "No,  I need to get out of here. You don't understand. It's coming, he told me..."

Willow was worried about his mental health by now.  "What is coming ? Who told you what ?"

"The vampire, he told me the Master would rise again...He said that was only the first thing in many things to come. It's coming, something bigger then the Master, something we can't fight..."

Buffy got scared by the look of terror in his eyes. "What, what did he say?"

"He called it the first vampire, the one that was made out of pure evil. The one that couldn't be killed... The one that was destined to end the world..."

Chapter three

Being the friend of a slayer 

Sunnydale Hospital,

(11. 00 PM)

"He called it the first vampire, the one that was made out of pure evil. The one that couldn't be killed... The one that was destined to end the world..."

Xander finished his sentence somewhat ashamed. He knew it sounded dramatic, not to mention a bit unbelievable, that is why Buffy's next words surprised him.

"Xand, I believe he told you this, I really do, but why did he tell you? I mean, he was probably hungry and figured you were a nice snack, but why would he tell you stories of doom?"

"He kinda had different plans for me. I wasn't his snack, thank you very much, he wanted to turn me. He knew me as one of your friends, and he wanted me to give you this message as well ass...my demonic new self."

Willow interrupted. "Did you drink any of his blood?"

He smiled. "No Will, thanks to you guys, he only got to feed off me. And then the cavalry rushed in to save me. He didn't have time to make me drink his blood."

Buffy sighed. "I can't believe I've only been back one night and here we are talking about blood, vampires and big evil coming. You gotta love Sunnydale!"

Xander looked at her. "Bigger picture here Buff, I was drained of my blood tonight. Some thing sucked blood out of me, could we cover that shock first before we discuss the disadvantages of coming home?"

Willow walked over to her best friend and hugged him. "We are not discussing anything anymore. As you just said, you were drained of blood! Get some sleep and don't ever scare me like that again! Not to mention the fact that this is a school night...Do you think you could get bitten on the weekend next time?"

Xander laughed, and then let her out of his embrace. "Next time I'll tell him to come back on a Saturday."

"That's the spirit!"

The girls got up to give him his rest. He stopped them from leaving. "Could you guys send Cordelia in? She'll probably be be a little bit pissed if she finds out I only talked to you guys and then went to sleep. Besides, I kinda need to see her. Oh, and tell Oz and Giles that I'm fine and that I will see them tomorrow. The doctor said I could go home in the morning, once I got some rest."

The girls nodded and left the room. When they entered the waiting room again Giles and Cordelia were back from their snack trip. Buffy looked at the brunette.

"He wants to see you."

As Cordelia left the room, Buffy suddenly thought of something. "Willow, didn't you just say something about it being a school night?"

The redhead frowned. "Yeah, why?"

"So, you guys have been going to school this last month and slaying in the evenings?"

Oz nodded. "Yeah, we told them we were slaying vampires in the evening, but strangely enough they didn't believe us, so we had to come to school anyway."

"Didn't you graduate last year?"

"I forgot to go to summer school, so no."

Willow still didn't get why Buffy talked about school all of a sudden. "Why the sudden interest in our academic life, Buff?"

"It just kinda dawned on me that I don't have such a life anymore, I was expelled... Remember?"

Giles gave her a reassuring smile. "I will talk to Snyder myself; he has no right to keep you out of the school. You deserve education and the murder charges against you were dropped. It will be fine, I promise."

Buffy was kinda relieved to hear that, although the thought of no school didn't seem all that bad to her, but he was probably right about her having a right to get an  education. After all, that was important, albeit somewhat boring. Looking around the waiting room she couldn't find her purse anywhere and she remembered that she left it in Xander's room.

"Guys, I'll be right back, I left my purse in Xander's room and I need my keys and ehh... my favorite kind of lipstick."

She walked out of the waiting room. Oz shook his head. "Women and lipstick..."

Willow gave him a look. "Are you saying anything about my lipsticks?"

He replied fast. "Never, I wouldn't dare to go there..."

Buffy entered Xander's room to see Cordelia holding him, kissing him. She cleared her throat. "Sorry, left my purse here."

The couple looked up, Cordelia a little annoyed, Xander yawning. "It's ok, Buff."

Cordelia looked at her boyfriend, seeing he was tired. "I was getting ready to leave anyway."

Buffy picked up her purse and headed for the door. "You guys take your time saying goodbye, we will wait for you in the... ehh.... waiting room, Cor."

She left the room, wondering why it bothered her so much to see them together.

Sunnydale High School

(9.10 AM)

Willow walked into the library, with Oz right behind her. "Giles,  are you here?"

He emerged from his office. "Yes, is something wrong?"

"We just wanted to know if you have any information about what Xander said, you know, about the first vampire."

"Well, it's fairly difficult. I've been up all night trying to find some information that might be useful and I must say I found some pretty interesting..."

Oz interrupted. "You have nothing, have you?"

"No, not really, but I did find some references that indicate that this is the year a new force will rise. It may be the thing Buffy was warned about in her dream. And it is very possible that it is the first vampire Xander told you about."

Willow looked at her watch. "We have to go; we have class in five minutes. Could you call Buffy and tell her this? She wanted to come herself this morning to ask if you knew anything, but she isn't allowed on campus until Snyder gives her the ok to come back. Oh, and Xander says hi. He'll be back to annoy you tomorrow, those were his words, not mine. Gotta go now, bye Giles."

They walked out of the library, Oz with a hint of a smile on his face. "How do you pack so many words in one sentence and still remember to breathe?"

"It's a gift I have."

Xander's Hospital Room

(10.00 AM)

Buffy peeked around the corner of Xander's room to see him up and eating breakfast. "Good morning. Tell me, how are you enjoying the terrible hospital food?"

His face lit up in a smile. "Hey Buff, come in, I'm enjoying it to an extended level. But you know I would eat anything. What are you doing here?"

"Mom went to work and everybody is at school, and since I'm not allowed to go there, I figured I could bug you."

"You are always welcome to bug me, Buff."

"Thanks, oh, Giles called, he told me that he found some things in his books. Mostly a bunch of stuff telling that big evil is coming our way. He thinks my dream warned me about that. He also thinks that the evil thing is your first vampire."

"My first vampire, hey, I was just the first guy to hear about it!"

"Whatever, he is still researching it as we speak."

Xander grinned. "Cool, that means I get to skip math and researching today."

"You see, almost getting killed has it advantages."

"Yeah, wanna see if there's anything on TV?"

"Sure."

Xander moved to the right of his bed a little so she could sit next to him, and watch the tv that was hanging above his bed. They decided to watch a old episode of Baywatch, with Buffy making fun of the story line and Xander pointing out that the show was about the beauty of nature. They were halfway trough the show when he suddenly looked at her very serious. She got uncomfortable.

"What?"

"I missed you, you know."

"I missed you, too... all of you."

"Why did you leave?"

"I had to. So much had happened, I didn't see any other way. I mean ... I lost everything."

"What happened in that fight with Angelus, Buff?"

"Nothing much, I fought him, I won, I killed him, I saved the world."

"You tell fascinating stories."

She smiled at him. "Right now, it's all I can share with you. I promise that someday I tell you the whole story."

"When you're ready?"

"Yeah."

He was silent for a while, watching Pamela Anderson save some kid from drowning. "Where did you go?"

"I went to LA, worked there as a waitress."

"Did you meet any big stars while you were there?"

"Not really, the big stars don't usually eat at Barney's Ribs."

He laughed. "You never know, he could have made the best ribs in town."

"They weren't. Believe me, I know."

They were silent again, just content to be together and have some mindless fun. Xander knew that he needed to back off with the questions; she had told him everything she wanted him to know, for now. As soon as she was ready, she would tell him what really happened to her in the last three months. Meanwhile, Buffy was just happy to be around the ones she trusted again, the ones she loved. She watched Xander out of the corner of her eyes and couldn't help but smile at the way he was looking at the TV. Like the image of a running Pamela was all that mattered in the world... 

Sunnydale High School

(12.00 AM)

Willow walked into the library again. She had a lunch break and wanted to see if Giles had found anything more. She found Giles pacing, muttering 'Oh dear' to himself.

"What is it Giles, what have you found?"

"Apparently the first vampire isn't a vampire like we know it. This book says it really is invulnerable. Next to that, he almost always stays away from our world. He has been here once before, and wiped out almost half of the population then."

"Alone?"

"In a sense, he can control regular vampires with his mind, which means he has a pretty strong army. And according to this book, we don't have much time. This book says that he will walk the earth again in seven days, bringing the Master as a general for his army."

Willow paled. "Oh dear..."

"That's not all. He will rise six feet from where you are standing."

"The Hellmouth will open again?"

"Unless we find a way to stop him from rising, yes."

"That is not good..."

Chapter four

Facing your feelings

Xander's hospital room. (12.10 AM)

Xander and Buffy were busy packing up the few belongings Xander had with him. He had just been told that he could leave the hospital, if he took it slow for a couple of days. Of course, he jumped at the chance. Staying in bed and having nothing to do wasn't really something he had been enjoying too much. He looked at his best friend, still a bit amazed by her sudden reapearance in his life. He had forgotten how beautiful she was. Quickly shaking his mind from thoughts he didn't want to have yet again he decided to break the silence.

"So, ehh, Buff, do you wanna escorte me to my house. We could hang out in casa del Harris before we go over to Giles's to see if he knows anything yet."

She nodded. "Sounds like a plan, but I do wanna call my mom from your house. She's at the art gallery but I wanna let her know that I'll be home tonight. She still a little...well, you know..."

"Upset with everything that has happened, worried about you?"

"Yeah that, only about ten times worse."

"It takes time Buff, it will get better, you'll see. And hey, your mom at her worst is still a hell of a lot better then my parents at their best. You see, there's always a silver lining."

She laughed at his joke, even though it hurt her to see the look in his eyes everytime he mentioned his parents. He always claimed that he didn't care about his lazy, drunken parents, but she knew better. She always pretented she didn't care about her father not really paying attention to her either, but it did hurt. It always did. His situation must be ten times worse.

"Ok Xand, I think we have spend enough time in this hospital. I say we head to casa del Harris."

"Yes, my lady. Your wish is my command."

She gave him a sweet smile. "I will remember that."

She left the room, leaving Xander to ponder her last comment for a while. He quickly decided that he would never understand women and shaking his head he followed her out of the room.

Xander's house. (12.45 AM)

Xander opened the door of his house a bit carefully, hoping that he wouldn't run into his parents. He had no such luck, his father was standing behind the door and from the looks of things he hadn't been starting his day with a glass of orange juice.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I just got home from the hospital dad, remember you were called by a mister Giles about me getting into a accident last night."

His father was clearly having trouble remembering such a conversation.

"Why didn't you just call yourself?"

"Because I wasn't really in the position to pick up a phone. And anyway, as touching as your sudden sign of somewhat caring is, I'm home now. I'm fine."

Buffy had been standing behind Xander silently, just listening to the conversation. Not believing how Xander could deal with this on a daily basis and still come out of it the way that he did. She noticed his father looking at her and managed a weak smile and a wave.

"Hi, mister Harris."

"Who the hell are you?"

He didn't bother to listen to her reply and turned to his son instead.

"Aren't you going out with that hot little brunette?"

"You mean Cordelia dad, Cordelia. Yes, I'm still going out with her. This is Buffy, you met her before."

"Whatever." And with that his father turned around and headed for the kitchen, not really interested anymore. Xander watched him go.

"My dad, ladies and gentlemen...."

Buffy touched his arm. "I'm sorry Xand."

He shook his head, smiling. "Don't be, I'll live. Let's go to my room, he never comes there."

"What about your mom?"

"Oh, she's probably passed out by now, it's almost one in the afternoon after all."

He walked up the stairs. Not really watching if Buffy was following him or not. She came into the room a couple of seconds after him.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what Buff?"

"How can you live your life in this house and still come out of it as the sweet and caring guy that you are?"

He had to fight back the tears by her question and the genuine care he saw on her face. God, he had missed her so much.

"I have Willow, and Cordy, Giles, Oz, you... You guys keep me normal."

She smiled. "Normal?"

"Ok. Not really normal, you guys keep me...well...me. Am I making any sense at all?"

"Yes, you are making a whole lot of sense. And you know what, with all the unnormal things in my life it is nice to now that I help to keep at least one thing the way it should be."

"You do Buff, you really do..."

She looked into his eyes and saw the love, friendship and respect he felt for her and it made her feel alive for the first time in months. For the first time since Angel.

"You wanna watch some TV?"

He nodded. "Sure, we have had a lot of serious conversations today, so lets just forget about our problems and watch the...oohhh...the way to serious conversations of the kids in Dawson's Creek, who, by the way, are only sixteen in bizarro world. Nobody talks like that."

He plopped down on his bed and Buffy followed to lie besides him. Head to the tv, and already focused on the everlasing Pacey/Dawson/Joey triangle. They were going to have a afternoon of plain teen fun.

Xander's kitchen (5.30 AM)

Buffy had not felt this good in a long time. She and Xander had watched some TV until they decided that they had enough life lessons from Dawson to last a lifetime. Xander had put on some CD's after that, he had been dancing like crazy for about five minutes until he remembered that he was supposed to take it easy. Those five minutes alone however had Buffy cracking up, she had totally forgotten about the way Xander Harris danced. At least he called it dancing, she had long ago called it a circus act. After that they played some computer games, with Xander being way too fanatic and Buffy easily winning every single time. In short, Buffy had a good time and she was loving every minute of it. She never knew that spending time with Xander could be so much fun, but she also never really gave him a chance. In fact, she had discovered that this was the first time she had ever been alone with him for such a amount of time since they met. 

Now they were in his kitchen, grabbing something to eat before they went over to Giles's. Willow had called earlier, telling them that they were supposed to meet at 6.30. So they didn't have time for a fancy dinner, of course in the Harris household nobody knew what a fancy dinner was so it wasn't really a problem.

"Ok Buff, let's see, I have pizza, some leftover Chinese food and ehm...more pizza. Take your pick."

"I'll have the pizza, thank you."

"One pizza coming up for the Buffinator."

He turned around to smile at her and she was shocked to find out that she was actually atracted to him right now. She was atracted to her Xander shaped friend, who had a girlfriend and wasn't Angel. And somehow that last fact didn't really seem to bother her, even though she still loved Angel, would always love Angel. She was beginning to see however that she may had made a big mistake by turning Xander down, was beginning to see what Willow and Cordelia were able to see all along. Boy, did she have great timing. Develop feelings for your best friend when he's finaly over you and happy with another girl. Not to mention the fact that this other girl was sort of, kinda, a friend of hers.

"Buffy, hi! Is anybody in there? Buffy!!"

She realised he was talking to her and blushed, which caused him to look at her funny since she never did that.

"Sorry Xand, zoned out there."

"Yeah, you really were in a whole other place."

"If you only knew..."

Again, he looked at her strangely and she quickly took a bite out of her pizza. He did the same thing, thinking again that women were of a whole other species.

And then it hit him.

"You were thinking of Angel, weren't you?"

She smiled. "Yeah, a bit."

"You still miss him, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess a part of me will always miss him. He was my first love, but he's gone and I have to accept that and move on. Even though it is one of the hardest things I ever had to do."

To her suprise he got up and gave her a big comforting hug.

"I know Buff, but trust me, it will get better. And you know what, I just know that there is a great guy for you outhere, with nothing to do but  love you. You gotta believe that."

She tightened her hold on him. "Yeah, I believe that..."

He released her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good, now, let's eat!"

She did just that, even though she knew that her life had gotten a lot more complicated over the past two days.

Giles his apartment (6.30)

Buffy and Xander bounced into Giles's apartment, with Buffy laughing over the latest joke Xander had just told. They were greeted by Willow and Oz, who were both sitting on the couch, looking very much in love and Cordelia who was looking bored. Her expression changed to jealous when she noticed the way Buffy and Xander were laughing at eachother. Giles was pacing around, a worried expression on his face.

"You guys better sit down, I have something to tell you all."

Xander made his way over to Cordelia, gave her a kiss and sat down next to her. Buffy watched him go, realising again how stupid she had been in letting him go.

Or rather passing him by. Meanwhile Xander looked at the watcher.

"Shoot, G-man, tell us about the new big bad."

The older man cleared his throat.

"This isn't something we ever dealt with before Xander. The vampire that almost killed you was right when he spoke to you about the first vampire. This creature is extremely evil, and nobody has ever killed him. The last time he was here he simply got bored and decided to go back to hell after a while. He had however wiped out half of the population by then. He will rise in seven days, in the library. Coming out of the Hellmouth, bringing the Master with him as an general for his army. His army will consist out of all the vampires in the world who he can control with his mind."

Willow and Oz had heard this all before, but hearing it the second time didn't seem to make it any less frightening. Meanwhile Xander, Buffy and Cordelia just looked at eachother. All more than afraid. Buffy got the watcher's attention.

"There's got to be a way for me to stop this, or kill him."

Giles started to clean his glasses.

"There is no way to stop him Buffy, at least not for you."

The others looked at him in suprise. Oz decided to ask the question everybody wanted to ask.

"What do you mean not for Buffy? Is there somebody else who could stop this?"

"Yes, the prophesies speak of a True Warrior, one who is destined to fight the First Vampire and have a chance againt him. However, this True Warrior is a he. It is supposed to be the one who has seen and felt the power of evil and choose to fight the good fight. He has also known the love of a slayer."

Everybody looked at eachother after this. All thinking about the same person, but knowing that it couldn't be. Xander looked around the group.

"Ehh guys, isn't Deadboy a little to....ehhh....well dead for this job."

Buffy looked at her watcher.

"I killed him to soon. Maybe I should have waited, maybe there was another way for me to stop Acathla. I killed Angel to soon and now we are all going to die because of me."

Willow looked at her best friend.

"Buffy, no, this is not your fault. Wait...did you just say Angel...You said you killed Angel instead of Angelus."

Buffy nodded.

"He was Angel again. Something passed trough him and he was himself again. He didn't even know what he had done, but it was too late. Acathla had already been activated, so I kissed him, told him that I loved him and killed him. I killed him..."

She was crying by now. Xander made his way over to her and tried to comfort her as best as he could. Telling her that it wasn't her fault. Meanwhile Giles knew he wasn't done talking yet.

"You didn't destroy the world by killing him Buffy. You see..Angel isn't dead."

Buffy just looked at her watcher speechless. Xander was shocked.

"Wait...didn't Buff just say that she killed him...Then how can he be...What do you mean?"

"Angel is alive. He returned from hell almost a month ago. He doesn't know why, all that he knows is that he's back. He still has his soul and decided to go to LA, knowing that he and Buffy could never truly be together. He thought it would be easier for you this way. He did however call me to tell me about this and told me to tell you when I thought the time was right."

Buffy had a confused and mostly hurt expression.

"You knew he was alive?"

Giles just nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me the moment I came back?"

"I didn't think it was the right time yet. It was to soon."

"Who gave you the right to judge about that?"

"Angel told me to tell you when you were ready. I didn't think you were ready yet."

"Were you ever going to tell me if this True Warrior thing hadn't happened?"

The watcher remained silent while Buffy got up to look him straight in the face.

"ANSWER ME!"

"No, I wasn't going to tell you anytime soon..."

Buffy felt like her world had just fallen around her. She looked around the room and noticed the fear in everybody's eyes, the amazement. When she looked at Xander she saw pain for what she was feeling. For a long moment all she could do was look into those eyes, gathering her strenght there. Then she looked back at her watcher.

"I can't do this right now, I need to be away from you."

She turned to Xander.

"Please come with me?"

He hesitated, looking between Cordelia and Buffy. Seeing the pain she was in he made his decision. He followed Buffy out of the room. She would need somebody and he was going to be there for her. Always...

To be continued....


	2. Confessions

Title: In a perfect world (5/?)

Author: Joyce

Rating: G

Timeline: Beginning of season three. Buffy isn't back from her departure yet. Angel never returned, at least not to Sunnydale. He got out  of hell and went to LA after that, realising that he and Buffy would never work out. He did call Giles however to let him know he was alive, but he didn't tell Giles that Buffy had to kill him. He also told Giles that he had to tell Buffy when she was ready. So it's up to Giles to determine when he thinks she's ready. Cordelia and Xander are still together, as are Willow and Oz. Spike got staked by Drusilla after he took her out of Sunnydale, and she went to Mexico.

Why did she go to Mexico ? I don't know, I think she could have fun there. 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All the characters used here are Joss's. So don't sue me, I'm just a poor student with to much free time!!

Chapter five

Confessions 

Outside of Giles's appartment (6.45 PM)

Xander followed Buffy out of Giles's appartment silently. Once outside, she started walking, not saying anything and he just walked beside her. Not quite sure what to do, how to handle this.

After a couple of minutes of walking he noticed that she was walking towards Angel's mansion. It wasn't really a place he needed to see again but he decided that it didn't matter. If she thought she needed to go there, he was going to be there too.

Walking down the road to the mansion he remembered to last time they had walked here together. He remembered the lie he had told her. '_Kick his ass.'_ It was a long way from what he should have said. He didn't have time to dwell on it for long because they had made it to the mansion and Buffy was about to open the door and face her memories.

She seemed calm, walking through the place, touching some things, lost in her own world and still not talking. It was starting to freak him out.

"Buffy? Why did you bring me with you?"

It took a while for her to answer.

"Why did you come?"

He gave the only answer he could give her.

"Because you asked me to."

She gave him a smile at that, it was a small one, but still a smile.

"I guess I needed someone...needed you."

He nodded, not really sure how to respond to that. She took a seat on the couch in front of the fireplace and he sat down beside her. Again it took some time for her to say something.

"He lied to me Xander..."

He saw the hurt and the confusion, and was a bit suprised by it. It seemed like she was more upset by the fact that Giles, who was almost like a father to her, had lied to her then she was about the fact that the man she loved was still alive.

"It happens sometimes Buff... People lie. They don't always mean to and sometimes they really think it's for the best."

She nodded. Still not sure.

"But how could he do that to me?"

"He thought he was protecting you Buff. And he was doing what Angel told him to do. He had his reasons and I don't think any of them involved hurting you. He was just trying to shield you from that."

She smiled.

"Since when did you get so wise?"

The question broke him. She trusted him, and she didn't have any right to do so. He lied to her too.

"I didn't Buff. I just know what I'm talking about."

"What do you mean?"

He took a deap breath.

"Look, I don't mean to drop a bomb on you after you just recieved one, but I just... I mean...you trust me and I think you need to know...I'm not sorry..I'm not...But you just need to know...I don't think I can live knowing...."

She interrupted him.

"Xander, just tell me, please, you're scaring me."

"Remember the last time we came here? When I told you I had a message from Willow?"

She nodded.

"I lied. I was supposed to tell that she was trying to do the spell to restore Angel's soul again and I didn't...."

A long silence followed his statement. A silence in which he didn't dare to look at her and just studied his feet instead.

"Xander?"

He looked up and barely had time to register the tears she had in her eyes before she slapped him. It wasn't a hard blow, but it was going to be a bruise and his head kinda buzzed from it. But he had to pay attention because she was speaking to him.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry Buff, I think you took out half of my brain capacity. Be more specific."

"Why didn't you tell me Willow was trying the spell again? Did you really hate Angel that much? Where you so eager to have me? That jealous?"

Her questions blocked the pain and he started to get angry. Clearly she didn't understand.

"How low do you think I am? What I did had nothing to do with jealousy. I knew I could never be what Angel is to you and I wasn't about to try and take his place. I lied to you because you were finally ready to fight him. I lied because you were finally ready to go full out against him. I lied because I needed you to be at full strenght, because that was the only chance we had to save the world.

I lied to save my parents, bastards as they are... I lied for my girlfriend who I really do care about. I lied for my best friend who was in the hospital after almost dying and I couldn't stand to watch her die for real just a couple of hours later.

And yeah, I lied for you too. But not because I wanted you to be with me, but because I wanted you to have a life. I wanted to see you smile again and laugh with Willow, I wanted to see you dance at you're prom, do all the things you deserve to do. I lied because I did what I thought was best at the time. And I'm not sorry I did it. I still think that I made the right desiscion. I am sorry however that I had to betray your trust in me, that I risked our friendship. But even if you'll never talk to me again I still won't be sorry that I lied to you, because you're here, alive, and that's all I wanted to accomplish."

Buffy looked stunned after the speech he had just given her and he decided she needed some time to think about it, so he got up and left, leaving her with her thoughts. He took one last look at her and it broke his heart to see her sitting there, looking so small and lost.

Buffy couldn't believe everything she heard in the last hour. Angel was alive, in LA. He was alive, and he didn't even bother telling her. Instead he passed that burden on to someone else, who also made the choice not to tell her. And to top it all of, she had just found out that her best friend had lied to her at a crucial moment. He could have told her, she could have stalled, waited for the old Angel to return and everything would have been alright. The minute she thought that she knew it couldn't have been possible that night. Angelus wasn't playing games or trying to stall, he was fighting to kill her and he would have beaten her if she didn't take it all out.

Xander had a point, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She trusted him, above all, she always knew that he would be there for her. Watching her back, doing what's best for her. And it was hard to accept that he had done that again by lying to her. Just like it was hard to accept that Giles had done the same. But she knew she had to make an effort to try and understand, because these men were to important for her to lose. 

Giles was her mentor, her father figure and she needed him to fight al the nasties that went bumb in the night. But next to that she needed him because she loved the stuffy Brit, because he was always there for her. He had made a mistake, but she had made plenty of them too in the past.

In a way, all the same rules applied to Xander. She hadn't always treated him very decent and he had always forgiven her. Besides, she needed him just as much. Because he could make her laugh, because he was sweet and caring, because he was Xander. It was going to be hard, but they needed to stick together. Fight to get the trust back. The world could possibly end again in a couple of days and she couldn't imagine fighting this without Giles, without Xander...

The easiest decision would have been to walk away from them both. But she wasn't about to run again. She had done enough of that in the last few months.

Buffy stood up, there were battle plans to be made, and she needed her Scoobies for that. 

Outside of Giles's appartment

(7.30 PM)

Xander walked back to the appartment of Giles, since he didn't know what else to do after his talk with Buffy. He was terrified that he had lost her forever, but didn't want to think about it too long. It would drive him crazy. 

When he entered Giles's appartment he saw that it was empty, with the exception of Cordelia who was sitting on the couch, staring blankly ahead.

As soon as she saw Xander a mix of emotions were seen on her face. Relief, anger, love, sadness. Xander didn't have a good feeling about it.

Cordelia stood up. A determined look on her face.

"We need to talk Xander."

He ran his hand trough his hair.

"I don't think I like where this is going."

Cordelia started walking around the appartment.

"What just happened, you going after Buffy without even hestitating made me realise that I've been fooling myself  This isn't working...us...as a couple. I deserve more from a boyfriend and with you...no matter what I do...I will never be good enough.. I'm not her...And it kills me to say that because I really thought I would be able to erase her from your mind. I am Cordelia afer all, and that is why I won't put up with this any more. I'm breaking up with you Xander."

Xander wanted nothing more then to tell her she was wrong, but he knew it would do no good.

"Cordy, don't do this. I care about you...I really do."

"I know you do, but you see I don't care about you... I love you, and I need to be with someone who loves me too. I want more then a boyfriend who only cares about me, and you can't give that to me. You don't have any love left to give. Am I right?"

He nodded.

"I'm sorry Cor...I'm so sorry.. I wish I.."

"Yeah, you wish you loved me too.. So do I..."

She started crying and he walked over to her and tried to comfort her. To his suprise she let him hold her and for a while they just stood there. Finally Cordelia looked up, kissed him, and let go of him.

"I'm gonna go now Harris. I have a herd of sheep I need to get back. So be prepared, next time you see me I may not be so nice."

"Let it all out. You are Cordelia after all."

She smiled, which is why Xander took no offence to the words that followed.

"And I'm back now, you loser."

She walked to the door.

"Giles, Willow and Oz are out getting supplies from the Magic Shop, they will be back soon. I really hope you guys pull it of, I don't really wanna die in a couple of days. If you guys need help, just let me know, ok?"

"We will, are you gonna be ok?"

"In time, yeah."

She opened the door but stopped when she heard him.

"Cordy..."

"What?"

"I'm gonna miss you..."

She smiled.

"And you should Harris...You should."

With that she was gone, leaving Xander to wonder if he was gonna lose all the women in his life in one night. He slumped down on the couch, thinking about the events of the last two days. A lot had happened in that short amount of time. He was still brooding on the couch when Oz, Willow and Giles walked in. The latter carrying a back from the Magic Shop. Oz and Willow exchanged suprised looks when they noticed a brooding Xander on the couch who hadn't even said hallo yet. Oz raised his eyebrows.

"Did Angel trade bodies with you or something?"

The question got his attention.

"No! No, hell no! Nothing like that."

Willow was starting to get worried.

"Were is Buffy, is she ok? Did you guys fight or something? What happened?"

"We fought or something... Could you just leave it at that Will, Buffy will tell you soon enough and I don't want to lose you too tonight."

"What do you mean lose me too? Were is Cordy?"

"She broke up with me..."

Again Oz raised his eyebrows.

"Tough night man."

"You have no idea, but could we keep drop this subject now and foccus on the world ending in a couple of days. I take it that's why you guys went to the Magic Shop just now."

Willow knew her best friend well enough to know that he wasn't going to say anything anymore about Cordelia and Buffy, so she decided to do what he asked and expain why they went to the Magic Shop.

"Giles remembered a spell in a book after you guys left. It won't stop the events from happening, but if we cast the spell right it will give us the exact time the First Vampire will rise. According to Giles that is very important. It means we know how much time we have to prepare. If Angel fights the First Vampire at the exact moment he appears we may have a shot at beating this thing, since he is most weak after he just crossed the line from his demension to ours. His powers grow with each moment he is on our world. And when his powers grow, his hold on the vampire population becomes even bigger. We need to beat him before he forms his army, otherwise the world will turn into a bloodbad."

Xander looked at his best friend.

"Well, you certainly cheered me up..."

She gave him a goofy smile.

"Sorry..."

"Do you need any help for this spell?"

"Nah, me and Giles got it covered. It requires a lot of concentration, but the spell itself isn't that hard to do. We'll manage."

Oz gave his girlfriend a proud smile.

"Sure you will."

Xander looked around the room.

"Can we stop this without Buffy's help?"

Giles sighed.

"We have to try, after what I did I don't think she will come back any time soon. She may have left Sunnydale again. It will be hard but we have to try. The first thing we need to do now is this spell and then I shall have to contact Angel. With or without Buffy, he needs to come to Sunnydale."

Xander saw the pained expression on Giles's face and knew exactly what he was feeling. It was hard to know that you had hurt someone, especially when that someone was so important to you. He cleared his head, knowing that he had no time to dwell on it now.

"G-man is right. We have to try. We are the Scoobies after all, right guys? We may not have superpowers, but it will have to do. Besides if Deadboy comes to town we have at least one superhero at our side. And I can't believe I'm glad he's coming back... God, my life has become so sad."

Again he slumped down on the couch, this time it was an overdramatic gesture and it got a smile out of the other three. Giles looked at his team.

"What do you say we get to work?"

His question was answered by Buffy's voice behind him.

"Where do we start?"

The watcher turned to look at his slayer, suprised at her presence. She was standing there with a calm expression, just looking at him.

"Buffy?"

"Hey Giles."

She looked around the room.

"Xander..."

He waved, not really sure what else to do. Wondering is she was going to hit him again.

"Should I protect my face?"

"No, that isn't to say we're ok. We aren't. We really need to talk about what you did. I don't agree with you, but I think I understand why you did it. But you still hurt me and it will take time to trust you again. Can you handle that?"

He nodded, relieved that at least she was giving their friendship a chance. She turned to Giles.

"The same goes for you too. Are you ok with that?"

"Yes, yes, I agree with that."

"Good, now, let's see what we can do to stop this new baddie from destroying the world."

 Tbc...

Reviews please!!!


	3. preparing for battle

Author: Joyce

Title: In a perfect world

Disclaimer: They are not mine.

Note: I know this took a long, long time to update. Sorry about that. What can I say? Life got in the way. I do hope you guys enjoy this part.

Chapter six.

Preparing for battle 

Buffy looked around the room patiently, waiting for someone to say something. It was her Watcher who spoke first.

"We've located a spell that will help us in our fight against the First vampire. If we cast the spell correctly it will give us the exact time the First vampire will rise. That means we're giving Angel a shot of beating this thing. The First is still weak after he crosses the barrier between his dimension and ours. We have good hope that Angel may be able to beat him or slow him down considerably. Me and Willow have everything we need to perform the spell, so we are ready to cast it. And that means we will have to contact Angel. We have to know if he's ready to get involved in this."

Giles glanced over at Buffy, seeing a pained expression on her face when he mentioned Angel.

"We really have to call him now, we can't wait any longer."

The group was silent, everybody looking at Buffy.

"No, I'm not calling him. You guys can't expect me to call him. I can't...It's hard enough to process that he's alive. I can't deal with hearing his voice right now."

She turned to Giles.

"Please, don't make me call him. Would you do it?"

Her expression turned cold.

"After all, you have been in contact with him before."

Xander jumped in, trying to release some of the tension.

"Guys, this may be the stupidest idea I've ever had, but what if _I_ called him. Somebody needs to call him, so it might as well be me. That way Giles and Willow can do the spell. Oz can make sure nothing goes wrong with the spell and Buffy..she won't have to deal with him...yet."

He noticed a small smile of relief on Buffy's face. It quickly vanished when she saw him looking at her. Her smile was gone, replaced by a mixture of sadness and anger. Not wanting to deal with that he turned to Giles.

"Let me call him."

The Watcher merely nodded, before adding.

"Call him, but don't insult him. Treat him with respect, I don't want to hear one Deadboy from you while you're talking to him. We need him, you need him. Remember that."

Xander couldn't help but respect the older man.

"He tortured you last year, killed your girlfriend. You're a good man, G-man."

Shaking his head, the Watcher gathered his supplies for the spell.

"No, I'm not. I'm not doing this for Angel. But he's the only chance I have of saving the people that I love."

His last words were spoken directly at Buffy and seeing the sincerity in his eyes she smiled at him. It was a small smile, but it was a start none the less. Smiling back at her he turned back to Xander again.

"You will find his number taped under my bed."

Xander blinked.

"Why the hell do you keep Angel's number taped under your bed?"

Giles turned red, picked up his stuff and motioned Willow to follow him. She and Oz stood up, laughing a little. When they walked upstairs Xander could hear him mumbling.

"It means nothing, I just thought it was a safe place to keep it..."

Laughing, Xander faced Buffy.

"Do you want to be there when I call him?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, that way I can make sure you don't lie to him."

His expression turned serious in a second.

"You said you would give our friendship a chance. This is not the way to do that, Buffy. I know you think I made a mistake. But don't treat me like I always lie. It was a one time deal and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I did what I did to save the world, to save you. And I'm so sorry that I hurt you, but we don't have the time to deal with this. Could we please let it go for now? We need to save the world... again. Let's just call Angel."

Buffy knew he was right, this wasn't a good time to discuss this. She was a bit surprised by the way he talked to her. He seemed confident in a odd way. Ever since she came back he had been different, more mature. Xander Harris seemed to have found himself while she was away. He accepted that she was still mad about the lie, he also accepted that she didn't agree. But he wouldn't take any crap from her, he defended himself quite well. She kinda liked it, although a large part of her tried to deny that fact.

"Fine, we'll drop the subject."

He nodded, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Good, now if you excuse me. I need to find Angel's number under Giles's bed."

Shaking his head, he walked out of the room.

"There's a sentence I thought I'd never say."

LA, Angel's office.

The room was dark, silent. He sat in the middle of the room. Being very happy with doing nothing while thinking about all the sins he had committed.

"Angel, man, don't you do anything else but brood? There's a whole town out there. With pubs and clubs and fine ladies. And did I mention the pubs already? Get out there man, connect with the people you are supposed to save."

He turned around.

"Doyle, what brings you here? Did you get another vision? Is anybody in trouble?"

The Irish man shook his head.

"Nope, I'm vision free. No trouble, but I do feel kinda...I don't know..weird. I feel restless and edgy. I feel like something bad is coming but I have no clue what. Am I making any sense at all?"

Doyle made a lot of sense. Angel could feel evil lurking, he had felt it the last couple of days. The problem was that he didn't know where the danger was coming from.

"You're making an awful lot of sense, something is coming. I just wish I knew what it was. Can't you just have a vision or something?"

Doyle laughed, shaking his head.

"Angel, it doesn't work that way. You can't just say: Hey, I need some information and magically information will fall out of the sky. That's just not..."

He was interrupted by the phone ringing. Angel smirked.

"That could be information, calling me right now."

"Sure man, keep dreaming."

Picking up the phone, Angel was greeted by the last voice he ever expected.

"_Angel. Hi, it's Xander. I kinda need to talk to you."_

"_Is Buffy ok? Is she hurt? Did you guys find her?"_

"_She's fine, don't worry. We kinda need you however to make sure she stays that way."_

"_Something bad is coming, isn't it?"_

"_Yeah, we're facing another apocalypse. Giles is freaked out, says that this could really be it. The enemy is really strong and Buffy can't fight it."_

"_But you just said that she was fine?"_

"_She is. The thing is, she's not supposed to fight this thing. You are."_

"_I'm sorry what? What do you mean? I'm supposed to stop the apocalypse? How the hell do you figure that?"_

"_The First vampire will rise in seven days. Do you know who that is? Otherwise I can explain it to you. Angel? Angel?"_

"_Yeah, I'm still here. I know who that is. Heard the stories, he is supposed to be unbeatable. The head of an army of vampires who have no free will. They just do what he orders them to do. He brings a powerful vampire with him as an general for his army. I'm guessing that he will bring the Master. He is the most powerful vampire who is living in the dimension of the First now since Buffy killed him in our own dimension. I know the story, I understand the threat. What I don't understand is why you think I'm the one to fight this creature."_

"_Believe me, I don't understand it either. But we found a prophecy. It speaks of a True Warrior. Someone who is destined to fight the First vampire. The prophecy speaks of the one who has seen and felt the power of evil and choose to fight the good fight. He has also known the love of a slayer. That's you Angel. You're supposed to fight him."_

"_It does makes sense, it would explain why I'm back. I died before I could fulfill this prophecy so they sent me back."_

"_I think you're right. So, will you help us?"_

"_I don't really have a choice. Buffy's in danger, of course I will help. I'll pack up some stuff and be on my way. Xander...is she...is she there with you?"_

"_Yeah, she's here."_

"_Is she mad about me not telling her that I'm alive?"_

"_I would wear protective clothes in specific areas if you know what I mean. Otherwise, you'll be fine. See you soon."_

"_Bye, and thanks for calling."_

"_Well, someone had to do it. Bye."_

Angel stared at his phone for a while. Wondering why Xander had been the one to call him. He had been civil, for once not annoying. The world was probably going to end, Xander Harris had been civil to him. He was startled to hear Doyle behind him, he had almost forgotten that he was still there.

"So I guess we're going to Sunnydale, fighting this First vampire dude. I must say, he sounds like an unpleasant fellow."

Angel shook his head at his friend.

"We're not going, I am."

Doyle laughed.

"You still don't get it, do you? I'm not just the bloke who gives you messages from the Powers That Be. I'm your friend and if you are going to fight this thing then so will I. I'm going with you."

Angel knew better then the argue with him. He could be quite stubborn. Besides, it would be nice to have a friend with him. Buffy was not going to welcome him with open arms, he would need all the support he could get.

"Fine, but if you're coming with me you're driving. Go pack your stuff and meet me here in an hour. Let's see if we can stop this apocalypse."

Xander put down the phone, turning to face Buffy.

"He's coming, he should be here in a couple of hours."

"A couple of hours...Boy, that's soon, awfully soon."

Xander could imagine that she was afraid. She was afraid to see Angel, afraid to still love him like she had. Afraid of the hurt he could cause her.

"Buff, you're going to be fine. You and Angel, that will always hurt. You love the guy and he loves you and not being able to be together... That hurts. Eventually it will get better."

She snorted.

"Yeah, you would know."

He approached her. Stopping right in front of her, making sure she was looking into his eyes.

"I do know what it's like to love someone who you can't be with. You, of all people, should understand that I know damn well what that's like."

He walked away from her, leaving Buffy to process his words while a single tear ran down her cheek.

Xander decided that he needed to leave Giles's place for a while. Hearing Angel's voice on the other side of the line had been easy, seeing the look on Buffy's face wasn't. The way she looked at him during his conversation with Angel had been heartbreaking. It was a look that spoke of longing, anger and sadness. And the scary thing was, he didn't know if he or Angel caused her to feel like that. Right now, he just needed a break. From her, from everything. He kept on walking, not really having a destination. He just wanted to get away. At least for a little while.

Meanwhile Buffy was left alone. Giles and Willow were still busy completing their spell and that left her with way to much time to think. About Angel and the fact that she didn't kill him after all. He was alive and he was going to be here in a couple of hours. He had lied to her, they all had. She realised they had let each other down. The men that were most important to her had lied to her but she had abandoned them for a period of three months. Three months during which Giles and Xander must haven been worried sick. She had to admit that she was no princess either. She hadn't lied to them but she had betrayed them. She could see it whenever Giles looked at her. He was fighting to trust her again and Xander...She hated the way he looked at her. Like she was a vision that was going to disappear soon. She was startled by a sound coming from behind her. Giles, Willow and Oz came down the stairs. All looking a little perplexed, shocked even.

Buffy stood up, worried.

"Did it work, how much time do we have?"

Her watcher studied his feet, finally looking up.

"We have less then 48 hours. 46 hours and 37 minutes to be accurate."

Buffy sat down on the couch.

"Wow, that's way to soon. We need time to repair, think of a back-up plan. Angel isn't even here. We need to..we need... Giles, I can't do this again. It's to soon."

There were tears in her eyes.

"I just got home..."

They were silent, none of them knowing what to say. The scene was interrupted by Xander storming through the door.

"Guys! Guys! It's a war out there!"

Giles frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Xander was panting, pointing like a madman in the direction of the town center.

"There's an enormous amount of vampires out there. Killing everybody they see."

They looked at him like he was crazy and he nodded his head, frantically.

"It's true, really."

Buffy turned to her Watcher.

"Giles, the sun hasn't gone down yet! How it this possible?"

He paled, looking at the young adults in the room. The ones he loved like his own children.

"It's starting..." he whispered.

Tbc...


	4. Making a plan

Author: Joyce

Title: In a Perfect World

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine.

Note: I haven't written a Buffy story for years but this was unfinished and I felt the need to pick it up again. It's still not done but I hope writing this chapter triggers me to finish this project.

Making a plan

"What's starting?" Buffy demanded to know, getting worried by the way her Watcher was looking at all of them. Like he was saying goodbye already.

"They..." Giles stopped, not sure how to continue, "The vampires sense that the First Vampire is entering this world in 48 hours and it gives them...eh...certain advantages."

"All the normal rules don't apply anymore," Xander stated calmly and they all looked back at him, confused by the certainty in his voice. "I was just out there," he elaborated, " they were walking in the sun, entering houses uninvited, the rules that bounded them are gone."

"Oh boy," Willow mumbled, "Not good, so not good."

Xander just sighed, defeated, and sat down. "I ran like hell..." he whispered, "That was...it was like nothing I've seen before. It's a war zone out there."

"How do we protect ourselves?" Oz asked, ever the practical one. "I mean, we're supposed to fight the First but we can't do that while being dead. How do we keep vampires from entering this place and killing us?"

"I won't let them," Buffy promised her friends, certainty written on her face but Giles frowned before he turned to his books with a worried expression. "Oz has a point, Buffy. They are almost unstoppable now, you can't fight the entire population of vampires in Sunnydale and they are turning people as we speak. Making the population even bigger and stronger in time."

"Yeah..." Xander just said before he jumped up. "Oh man, Cordy is out there!" he exclaimed, knowing that his ex-girlfriend was probably dead already. Frustrated he slammed his fist on the table before him. "It was not supposed to be like this...She never deserved any of this."

They were silent, none of them knowing what to do or how to fight the fear they were feeling inside. "I got it," Giles mumbled after a while. "Magic! They are still vulnerable to magic. We need to cast a spell to keep vampires from entering this house."

Willow smiled a shaky smile, the first of the day and stepped forward. "I can do that," she said confidently, having spent much of the summer perfecting her magic. "I can even put in a clause that keeps Angel from being affected by it so he can enter."

"How long will that take?" Oz asked, looking outside to see if something was coming already. His girlfriend shrugged, "I did a similar spell before, no more then ten minutes I guess."

"Hurry Will," Xander advised, the images of what he had seen in town still on his mind. "Just hurry." The redhead left the room, gathering some supplies and needing a silent place to focus. They all paced the room restlessly, scared by each sound that they heard until she came back downstairs, a doubtful look in her eyes. "I think I did it...at least, I hope so."

"We're hoping that with ye, Will," Buffy admitted before turning to the oldest man in the room. "What are we trying to save here, Giles?" she asked, "If all the vampires in the entire world are out there right now...killing everything in sight...then what are we trying to save?"

The Watcher shook his head, cleaning his glasses in a tired manner. "I don't know. I'm hoping the rest of the world still has some time, it's very likely that things are progressing a lot quicker here since the added energy of the Hellmouth ads to the natural sense of a vampire and therefore they sensed the arrival of the First sooner. It could be..." he tried to explain when all of a sudden he noticed several pairs of yellow eyes looking into his living room. Slowly the group of friends turned around, hoping that Willow's magic would be enough.

"They're here," Buffy said, counting at least ten vampires although they did nothing, just stared and growled. "Why are they not moving?" Xander wanted to know and Willow let out a sigh of relief. "They are feeling your magic," Giles said with a proud nod, turning to the redhead, "it's containing them." She just nodded, awed by the fact that she was keeping forces like these outside of their little universe. They all stood there and waited to see what the vampires would do but eventually one of them walked away and the others followed, slowly retreating while still growling at them. "They're leaving," Oz said, stating the obvious before he frowned. "Why?"

"Because they know they have a whole lot of easier victims up for grabs. Why fight your way in here when the world is an all you can eat buffet?" Buffy answered slowly, wanting nothing more then to get out there and help, fight, but when she turned to Giles he just shook his head once, indicating that he understood but that she was needed here. That they needed to sacrifice lives in order to save a lot of them in the end.

"I hate this," Xander said with venom, not even wanting a reply but not knowing what else to do or how to release his frustration. "We need a plan," Buffy announced, "I know the prophecy says that Angel is our savior but I defied prophecies before and if I have to I..._we_, can do it again. I trust Angel," she added, smiling a sad smile when thinking of him, "but anything can go wrong and if something happens to him then...Then we need to be able to fall back on something."

"I agree," Giles nodded before they were all silent for a long time, thinking. "I'm having a hard time coming up with any plan," Oz declared and they all agreed before sitting down in silence again...

Several hours later

'Welcome to Sunnydale' the sign read but Angel was not feeling welcome at all, the task laying before him was hard and he was not ready to see her again. It was to soon, it would be always be to soon...

"You are such a fun person to take a road trip with," Doyle told him with a sigh, having spend much of the trip watching the vampire brood and Angel turned to his friend.

"Sorry," he just mumbled and Doyle rolled his eyes, not even bothering to respond before he frowned. He was certain that he saw something, a figure, coming their way and it was running.

"Angel, it could be that trouble is coming," he warned but the vampire had picked up on it already and was looking intensely at the figure as they approached it until he relaxed. "It's Cordy," he said before he pulled over and stopped, running towards her and Doyle stayed behind. "Sure! It's Cordy! That makes sense!" he yelled, not bothering to hide his sarcasm, "Who the hell is Cordy?"

Cordelia Chase was running, she had been running ever since she had left Giles's house and it all started, she was tired but she kept on running. It had saved her up until this point, none of the vampires seemed interested in chasing her, being to busy with feeding of their victims and so she ran. When she bummed into someone she screamed because she felt that this person had no body heat and it took her a while before she understood that he was talking to her, not attacking her or draining her, and saying her name.

"Cordy! Are you ok? Talk to me. Cordy?"

She looked up at the person before her, blinking. "Angel?" she whispered, "You're supposed to be dead..."

He shrugged. "Life is full of surprises," was his simple reply before he gently led her to his car, feeling the girl shiver and sensing her fear. "What were you running from?"

"Vampires," was all she said, "lots of them, everywhere..I just ran, I always run." Angel paled, remembering part of what he read about the First Vampire. "Oh man, they sense him already," he realized but Cordelia didn't respond, to tired or shocked to say anything more.

Doyle watched as Angel made his way back to the car, bringing a shivering and frightened girl with him. He could still see the girl was pretty though but he quickly released that thought, sensing that this was neither the time or the place.

"This is Cordelia Chase," Angel informed him. "One of Buffy's friends." Doyle understood it then, knew why his friend was being so protective of this girl. He cared about her because _she_ cared. "My name is Doyle," he gently told her and she looked at him for a short moment, giving him a small wave. "Hi," she replied, closing her eyes to rest from all the running she had done.

"We need to get to Buffy," Angel said, a look of worry and rage on his face, "she could be in real trouble..."

Half an hour later...

"So that is our plan when it all falls apart?" Oz asked with a skeptical look on his face and they all nodded, some with a sheepish look on their face while Xander wore a proud smile. "I thought of that!" he said again and they looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "Yeah," Oz reacted with his usual sarcasm, "you should be proud, man."

Xander was about to defend his honor when the there was a knock on the door and they were all startled. "Do vampires knock?" Willow questioned and Buffy rolled her eyes. "When they have a soul they do," she answered, knowing that he was here because she always knew when he was, she could sense it. She didn't move though until Xander shrugged and opened the door.

"We can't leave our savior standing there with vampires on a rampage all across town," he explained to the group who all looked at him like he had grown a third head. "Angel!" he continued when he saw the vampire standing in front of him. "Come on in!"

Angel was waiting patiently on the other side of the door, looking back at Doyle and Cordy standing behind him and wondering why he was nervous. He was undead, nothing could scare him but still...This tiny blonde could kill him, with a look _and_ her strength. When the door opened he was greeted by Xander, wearing the most fake smile on his face and motioning for him to come in. Frowning he did just that, preparing himself for the worst. What followed was a chaotic greeting. Giles immediately grabbed Angel by his arm and dragged him towards his books. "I'm so glad you're here," he mumbled, trying to forget about Jenny for the sake of the world and knowing that he needed him. Meanwhile he hoped that he would keep Angel away from Buffy somewhat longer, even though he knew that they had to talk sometime. "I need you to see this prophecy, we have little time."

Behind them Xander had spotted Cordelia and he moved towards her, hugging even though she had just broken up with hours before. "You're safe," he just said and he felt her clinging to him and shaking a little.

"Hi," a dark haired man said to Willow and Oz, who were looking at the greetings in confusion. "I'm Doyle, Angel's friend."

"Angel has a friend?" Willow frowned while turning to her boyfriend but he just extended his hand and shook Doyle's. "Welcome to ultimate chaos," he greeted him, "you'll love it here."

In the corner of the room Buffy stood motionless, looking at him. He was nodding at what Giles was saying to him and glancing at her every so often. He seemed...scared. So was she but for now relief ran through her and the emotion overcame any pain or anger for a while. He was alive. She had not killed him. Her eyes traveled across the room, she saw Willow and Oz talking to a unknown man, she saw Cordy clinging to Xander. He looked up and locked eyes with her and then she felt it..._It has to work, we need to survive...I don't want to die, I don't want them all to die..._ Wide eyed she kept her eyes on her friend, not recognizing the strong feeling of desperation that came over her and seeing the same confusion in his eyes.

Xander was talking to Cordelia, trying to calm her down, when he felt Buffy's eyes on him. He looked up and then he felt it..._He's alive...I didn't kill him...Now we need to survive... I need to save them..._He blinked, not recognizing the relief he suddenly felt as though is was his own and then he understood and saw the same look of awe on Buffy's face.

"What the hell was that?" they both said at the same time.

Tbc...


End file.
